1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to food preparation. More particularly, this invention relates to apparatus for the deep-fat frying of food, and specifically is directed to automatic, deep-fat frying and dispensing apparatus for the frying of food in a consumer environment by the customer/consumer or attendant without risk of food contamination by human contact or without risk of contact with the hot cooking oil by the customer while essentially eliminating the introduction of smoke and/or odor into the surrounding environment.
Although the present invention is applicable for deep-fat frying of numerous types of food products, it has been found to be particularly useful in the frying of frozen french-fry cut potato pieces by customers or attendants. Therefore, without limiting the applicability of the invention to "frying of frozen french-fry cut potato pieces", the invention will be described in this environment.
Deep-fat fryers or french fryers are widely used in the restaurant business for cooking various food products such as french-fried potatoes, fish and chicken. Typically, such french fryers comprise a deep tank containing a pool of cooking oil in the lower part of the tank with the cooking oil being heated by an immersed electric heating element or by a gas flame. The uncooked food product is placed in a basket which is lowered into the heated oil for the desired cooking period. When the product is done, as determined by visual inspection by the restaurant employee or the sound of an audio timer, the basket should be removed from the oil by the employee and the product served to a customer or transferred to a holding station where it is is kept warm by heat lamps until served. This process requires the use of and occupies the time of the restaurant employee/operator. Also the food product is not always freshly fried under these conditions since the potatoes are cooked in large quantities which may not be used immediately and tend to cool down before being consumed. In the present inventive machine, the potatoes are cooked in small individual quantities, when a customer desires or orders it, by using an extremely short cooking cycle of less than 200 seconds. This short cycle is possible because the food product is precooked to a predetermined degree.
With the advent of consumer demand for freshly cooked, prepared on-site hot foods, the need for apparatus to provide hot food products such as french-fried potatoes, fish and chicken has increased. Since in this environment the cooking apparatus is normally operated by the limited manpower of consumer/attendant, the apparatus must be of the type which is easily and safely operated. The apparatus must also be reasonable in cost, be reliable in its operation and not pollute the surrounding environment without it being necessary to vent the cooking fumes to an area outside of the operating location.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the prior art, various machines are known for processing and dispensing small batches or individual servings of a food product, such as french-fried potatoes. While a few of the machines have achieved some small degree of commercial acceptance, many others have not been successful.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,448,677 discloses an automated machine for selling fried foods which is coin operated. Upon depositing the correct coinage, a screw conveyor rotates to discharge food to be fried from a storage hopper onto a tray. The tray is balanced to tilt when it receives the proper weight of food with the tilting causing the screw conveyor to stop feeding food. When the tray tilts, it discharges the food into a basket immersed in hot cooking oil and also starts a timer running. When the time has run, a motor starts and through belts, pulleys, shafts, etc., dispenses a container for the food and then tilts the basket to discharge the fried food into the container.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,667,373 discloses an automated coin-operated fried potato machine containing a removable multiple bin supply tray to hold a predetermined quantity of potatoes in each bin and a mechanism to feed the potatoes from successive bins to a hopper which empties into a basket positioned within a cooking bowl. The cooking bowl is pivotally mounted above a storage vessel containing hot cooking oil. An oil lift assembly supplies oil from the storage vessel to the cooking bowl for each batch of potatoes and after the potatoes are fried, the basket is pivoted to dump the fried potatoes into a serving tray fed from a supply stack. The cooking bowl is pivoted to dump the oil through a removable and replaceable filter member and into the storage vessel.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,685,432 discloses an automatic coin-operated machine for cooking and dispensing fried foods which are stored within the machine in a conveyor. The conveyor contains holders for separate portions of food and dumps same into a supply funnel with multiple compartments, each of which is closed by a separately-operated flap. From the funnel, the food is guided into a basket immersed in a vat of cooking oil. After a predetermined time, the basket is pivoted to drop the fried food into a serving container which is automatically fed from a supply stack.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,818,820 discloses an automatic machine for preparing fried potato products which contains a food hopper for storing the potatoes to be fried. A slidably mounted ejection scoop at the bottom of the food hopper dispenses the right amount of potatoes into a basket immersed into a vat of cooking oil. At the end of a predetermined time, the basket is pivoted to drop the fried potatoes into a waiting container. The machine also contains a fan to extract the fumes via a replaceable charcoal filter unit. An automatic fire extinguisher unit is mounted near the fume outlet to extinguish the oil if it should catch fire.
The present invention as claimed is intended to provide a solution to various prior art deficiencies including the reliability problems associated with the complex automated mechanisms. Also, the high initial cost of the automated mechanisms as well as the high cost of daily operation and maintenance is considered a deficiency. In addition, the unacceptable service requirements associated with the highly automated mechanisms is considered a problem. There is also the problem of air pollution by the odor and smoke emitted from some of the machines. Some machines also tend to allow small amounts of cooking oil to exit from the machine. Also, the relative large physical size of the automated units can limit the location of the mechanism as well as the need for an external exhaust. In some prior art devices which store the food, there is a risk of spoilage and contamination of the food. There is also the relatively long length of time before the customer receives the cooked food after depositing coins in the machine. There is also the tendency for some units to contaminate the cooking oil by allowing pieces of the fried food to remain therein, thereby requiring the frequent changing of the cooking oil. In some units, it is inconvenient and difficult to clean the parts in contact with the oil and oily foods because of the complex automated mechanisms. In addition, many machines are of a design which does not allow for fast and easy removal and replacement of parts and units.